Chained to You
by SilentTaboo
Summary: I need you to take this and get out of here. If the government finds it, there is no telling what havoc their curiosity can bring with the Shard. The Prime is coming. He'll be here soon, and then you need to give this to him. He'll know what it is and what to do with it. Tell him you're my daughter, and he'll protect you.
1. The Shard

Chained to You

By, SilentTaboo

Disclaimer (for entire story): I'm going to be realistic: I don't own it.

Chapter 1: The Shard

"Ember Ashton do you really want to play this game?" Asked the sadistic Sector Seven agent as I held my breath hoping he wouldn't find me.

"You saw what running got your father. Just give us the Shard, and we'll leave you alone…-ish." I shook my head from where I sat against dumpster.

I knew better than to listen to listen to him. He and the gun he carried were the reasons I was covered in my father's blood. I put a shaking hand over my mouth to muffle the sob escaping my throat. Why did my father have to take that job? Why did he take the Shard?

My hand went to the black heavy chain around my neck that held the shard as I remember the instructions my father had given to me earlier that night when he knew we didn't have time to run and Sector Seven had finally found us.

"_I need you to take this and get out of here. If the government finds it, there is no telling what havoc their curiosity can bring with the Shard. The Prime is coming. He'll be here soon, and then you need to give this to him. He'll know what it is and what to do with it. Tell him you're my daughter, and he'll protect you." He looked at me with a hint of regret. "There was so much I never told you Em. So much you need to know. Now there is no time, and you'll have to figure it out on your own. Remember, I love yo-" He was cut short by a gunshot, and my world was turned red._

I heard a radio voice come from about where the Agent was 10 yards away, "Simmons where are you?"

"In an alleyway off of Tenths Street." The agent replied.

"Have you caught the kid yet?" The voice asked in a rather annoyed mannor.

"No, still no sign of her." Simmons replied. We're going to send Wheeljack's body for testing back at base and search the house for the Shard. Plus where has the kid got to go? She'll show back up here eventually."

"Roger that. Over and out." Simmons said swearing under his breath.

"You win this round kid, but when we find you, you are going to wish you came quietly." I let out a silent shaky breath before sagging against my shelter.

What was it about the rock around my neck that was so important my father had to die for it? Why did they shoot him? Didn't they know I needed him? There was so much I wanted to ask him. So much he promised me we'd do once this "Prime" had come and solved everything. So many promises broken by that solid _"bang"_.

I curled up where I lay and began to sob. Why couldn't this Prime have come sooner? Why couldn't he have saved my father? Just why?

I cried myself to sleep long after I ran out of questions, my father's blood drying on my skin.

* * *

><p>I woke up groggy, with an intense headache, swollen eyes, and throbbing sinuses. I sat up slowly rubbing my sore head trying to figure out what had woken me. I heard a car door slam and an engine shut off.<p>

So that's what woke me. I stiffened hoping it wasn't Sector Seven again before peeking out from behind the dumpster. What I saw baffled me. There were two teens, probably about five years older than me standing in front of a new Camaro.

What were they doing in the alleyway? I didn't have to wait long as the scene got even more confusing. A semi truck pulled up in front of the teens and began to change into a giant metal man. The teens looked just as confused as I was.

My head gave a particularly painful throb as I became quite certain I was hallucinating. This couldn't be real, could it?

I ducked back behind the dumpsters as I heard more engines closing in. I didn't know if these guys were friendly, and quite frankly, I didn't want to learn the hard way.

I heard metal scraping metal before a metallic smooth voice asked, "Are you Samuel Witwicky, descendant of Arcibald Witwicky?" I didn't hear the answer as more metal scraped metal.

"I'm Optimus Prime. We are Autotonimus Organisms from the planet Cybertron." The thing said after a moment, and I could feel my heart stop.

Prime? This _thing_ was what my father wanted me to hand my safety and the shard to? _Really?_

"Hold up Optimus there something here." Another metallic voice said with a light British accent.

My heart started again and began to make up for lost time as the metallic beings became really quiet.

"What is it Ratchet?" Optimus asked.

"A human… I think. There's something off about it."

"Do you know where it is?" I could almost feel my heart beating through my chest now. I put my head in my knees and tried to even my breathing.

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	2. Meeting Prime

Chained to You

By, SilentTaboo

**THANK YOU:** Holy noodles you guys are awesome! It's only been a few days and I have gotten so many responses, follows, and favs not just for the book but for me as an author it makes my head spin! Keep it coming guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

_Recap:_

"_Do you know where it is?" I could almost feel my heart beating through my chest now. I put my head in my knees and tried to even my breathing._

Chapter 2: Meeting Prime

I heard no response, but the sound of metal feet hit the pavement grew louder as one of the metal beings came much closer.

Then he stopped.

And I held my breath.

A few seconds past before I heard a loud whirl and my dark hiding space was bathed in a blue heat. I looked up shakily to see a canon I could probably climb in pointed at my face and a 20 foot grey, robot cybertro-thingy looking none too happy to see me.

"It's a female organic youngling, Prime. What are my orders?" The gray metal being asked.

_Please don't say shoot. Please don't say shoot._ I thought too afraid to actually voice my opinion.

"Bring her here." I heard the deep calm voice answer.

The grey metal being put away his canon and grumbled before reaching a large hand towards me to grab me. This was about when I unfroze and my common sense kicked in.

I needed to run. Trick was telling my legs that.

I ducked under the large hand barely managing to miss getting grabbed and darted to the left.

The metal being growled, if that was possible, "Come here you. Stay still!"

"NO!" I screamed as I was grabbed from behind by my shirt. Lucky for me it wasn't Mr. Canon Grouch. It was the teen boy I saw climb out of the Camaro earlier.

I tried desperately to break free of his grip, but he had picked me off the floor and locked one arm around my shoulders and the other around my waist effectively pinning my arms to my side.

However, that didn't stop me from trying.

I threw my head back and heard a crack that I'm sure was his nose. "AH! Mikaela help me with this will you would you?"

"Fine, but if she kicks me it's your fault." She approached cautiously unsure of really how to help as I continued to struggle.

"Hey. HEY! Calm down. We're not going to hurt you." I stopped struggling to look in her face. I had to know if she was lying.

Her brown eyes spoke of fear and confusion, but not lies. That was enough for me. It took me a moment to realize I tears were falling down my face, and probably had been since I had been found by the gray being.

'Mikaela' stood studying me with growing horror. "Oh, thank you." The boy holding me panted. "She's calmed down."

"Sam, take a look at her. She's covered in blood."

"What? What do you mean covered in-" He didn't finish his sentence and I could feel his eyes on me.

Thinking about where the blood came from caused a sob to rip from my throat. I didn't want to think about it. To think of how my father's expression froze as I caught him, screaming his name to a night that cared nothing for me or whose blood had dried on my skin.

"Oh, my-"

"What is wrong?" Prime asked the teens.

"She's covered in blood." Makaela answered him, her answer still confusing him slightly. Then she directed her attention to me. "Are you hurt?"

I shook my head. "Did you hurt someone?"

I shook my head again. "Then what happened?"

"It's m-my f-father's. He wa-as sh-shot last night." I answered in a broken whisper.

Her eyes hardened as she nodded. "I see."

That the robotic beings seemed to understand. Prime hummed before speaking. "So you have seen war."

I nodded trying to get a grip before remembering my father's last words again. "Are you Prime?" I asked needing conformation.

"Yes." I could see his and all the other beings guards being bricked up again.

"My father said you were coming. We have been waiting for you." The grey one's canons came out again, and 'Sam's' hold on me tightened.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because we- I have something for you. My father said that you would know what it is." Optimus seemed to contemplate this.

"Do you have it with you?" I nodded. "Do you promise not to run or give trouble if you are released."

"Yes."

"Release her, Sam. Let's see what it is this human was told to give." When I was set back on the ground, Sam rubbed his arms and reached up to inspect his nose.

I reached up a shaky hand to my neck unclasping the black heavy chain there. The Shard became visible as I pulled it out from under my shirt.

As I stared at I heard a faint frantic whisper that seemed to bounce off of everything. I ignored it holding it up for the others to see.

"Optimus, is that-"

"Ratchet! If it is do you wish to say the name here?" The one that had spoken eyes widened as he looked at Prime.

"No of course not." The other said.

"How did _she_- an _organic_- get _that_?" Asked the silver one.

"I do not know." Prime thought for a moment. "What is your name girl?"

"Ember." I answered confused by their conversation.

"Ember, who was your father?" The question shocked me somewhat.

"My father's name is Wheeljack Ashton, but his friends called him Jack." There were a few loud intakes of air and I looked at them confused.

Prime just hummed. "I thought so. I sent on a mission to search for it years ago. When he didn't return and we hadn't heard from him we assumed he had died.

He bent down so I could hand him the shard. However as he got closer, it began to glow blue and heat up. My eyes widened. This piece of rock had never done anything but give me trouble before.

What was it doing?

I heard a loud whisper as the stone glowed blindingly bright. _"It was never meant to be yours Optimus Prime!" _

Then my world went black.

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	3. Vessel

Chained to You

By, SilentTaboo

THANK YOU: Ok so I have gotten a bigger response for the last chapter than I did the first. *0* Thanks so much guys for all the reviews favs and follows! I really appreciate it and it definitely helps me update faster.

Recap_: I heard a loud whisper as the stone glowed blindingly bright. _"It was never meant to be yours Optimus Prime!"

_Then my world went black_.

Chapter 3: Vessels

After my abrupt absence from consciousness, I noticed I was floating. Not exactly weightless, as a matter of fact I felt like something heavy was sitting on my chest, but I was definitely floating. A pitch black blanket of nothing surrounded me, and if it wasn't for the something heavy, I felt I could probably be content to be there forever.

But the weight was there and the longer I floated the heavier it got, and I was slowly becoming aware of a burning white hot feeling where the weight was as well as on my palm where I last remembered the Shard being.

Where was I?

"_Temporarily you're in my conscious, young one." _Said the same loud whisper I had heard before the blue flash that had driven me to this heavy dark place.

I was still confused.

"_I'm what you call the Shard and what the Cybertonians call the last remaining piece of the Offlinedecider, or to you humans the Deathdecider."_

That didn't sound good.

"_I'm neither good nor evil. In some instances death is a good thing. But my original purpose has been corrupted by those desperate for the power over another."_

Well this was definitely freaky, and that explanation kind of made since. But if this thing is the "Deathdecider" why was I here?

"_You were going to hand me to a Prime. I have never been used well by a Prime. They think too much of the big picture. Helping the whole and forgetting that the immediate picture may not be the long term goal. Also my current vessel has been stretched too thin and maintains a vulnerable state in an effort to hold me. I have brought you here to give you a proposition. But I will not force it upon you. It will be completely up to you to accept or deny."_

Well that was a scary thought. "What do you want?" I asked out loud for the first time.

"_As I said my current vessel is stretched thin trying to contain me. My power is often all that holds that metal shard together. I am in need of a new vessel. The last true vessel I had was inanimate, unable to think, feel, or protect itself without an outside force. However, I was betrayed time and time again by those that had promised to protect me, not to use me for the wrong reasons, and not allow me to be used by others for the wrong reasons. As time went on my 'protectors' believed they had grown wiser than I when it came to my powers._

"_You are young from a young species. You have no desire for me. You no almost nothing of me except what I have told you. Now that you know what I am even without knowing what I can do you fear me. That is a good thing. I ask that you become my new vessel. In return I will give you information to the questions you have wondered of since your father's death and answers to most of your future questions."_

It wanted me to house it because I was young and ignorant? How would that benefit it any better than if Prime, the one my father said would fix everything, protected or 'housed' it.

I was sorely tempted to say no outright. The thing had caused me enough trouble. Because of it, my father was dead. Because of the Deathdecider, I was being head hunted and meeting robotic beings.

But the questions my father's death left me with were tearing me apart from the inside out. Why did he have to die? How did the Prime know of him? Why did my government want it? Why did they want me? What did my father never tell me?

My list just went on. This thing said that it had the answers. It would tell me if I helped it.

"How long would you be in me?" I asked it.

"_For a very long time, longer than a human's lifespan, longer than a Cybertronian's. You would see the end of many. I feel I must warn you of that. The only constant you would have over the thousands of years would be me."_

The weight on my chest seemed to double, and I bit my lip. Thousands of years, not a month or two. Was that really a good trade?

Plus how would I live that long? I was human, right? Humans are lucky to live 100 years let alone thousands.

"_My existence in you would stop your aging process physically, emotionally, and mentally. Essentially you would be as you are for as long as you were not killed. My existence in you would also make you harder to kill long with a few other advantages. You would not have a normal life by any standard."_

I nodded. Ok, so nothing new there, but if I let this thing live in me, who would take care of me? I would be eleven forever. An eleven year old can't provide for themselves.

"_That will be answered with time; however, I promise never to leave you uncared for. You will have all you need."_

Ok. I guess the true question would be how badly I wanted my questions answered and if I thought I could live with my decision.

_Could _I live with myself if I said yes? What if I said no?

I really wanted my answers. I would do almost anything to get them.

Did this count as almost anything?

"_I see you have come to your decision. Will you become my vessel?"_

I bit my lip for a second feeling the weight and burning on my chest inhibit my ability to speak for a moment.

"Yes." I forced out.

It sighed. _"Thank you."_

The weight on my chest and the burning in my chest cavity and on my palm increased tenfold. I heard someone screaming and felt leather under me.

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	4. What it Forgot to Tell Me

Chained to You

By, SilentTaboo

+++So sorry it has taken me so long to update. My mom's been dealing with cancer and my father had foot surgery and I'm in college. Enough said. Read on!+++

Recap: _It sighed. "_Thank you_."_

_The weight on my chest, the burning in my chest cavity, and on my palm increased tenfold. I heard someone screaming and felt leather under me. _

Chapter 4: What It Forgot to Tell Me

I could hear a voice over the screaming and the pain. It was deep, oddly comforting, and mildly panicked. "Ratchet, her vitals have spiked, and she is screaming her spark out. Her pheromone level suggests she is in high levels of pain. When we arrive I want you to run thorough diagnostics."

"Alright, but in the meantime Prime, scan her every few minutes. We don't know what absorbing _it_ will do to her." 'Ratchet' replied sounding concerned.

It took me a moment to realize the screaming was me, and I clinched my teeth to try and quiet the sound. It was grating, loud, and pained, and I just could not take the sound over everything else. It didn't stop them completely, but it quieted them enough for me to hear a third voice though a speaker next to my head.

"Is the sparkling aware of anything yet Prime?"

"I am unsure. She has yet to open her eyes or do anything other than exhibit signs of distress. If she is aware, she has not seen fit to make it known Jazz."

A fourth voice came into the conversation. "Prime if earth sparklings aren't too different from ours, it probably is terrified. You said that it's in pain also; you should try and calm it. We'll need it quiet if we do not wish for Sam's caretakers to become aware of us."

I didn't hear the rest of the conversation as I felt solid sharp knife-like _things_ beginning to force their way through the skin of my forearms and outer thighs. It was as if my bones had suddenly decided to start a civil war. The unnerving unwanted screaming increased and I felt something uncomfortably wet and increasingly cold soak through my clothes.

My screams were traded in for loud sobs. In the back of my mind behind the mind numbing slicing pain, I was trying desperately to remember what I had traded this horrible pain for. It had to be something important. Had the Death Decider warn me about this?

As the pain began to dull back into its previous status of a constant all consuming agony, I was vaguely aware of the cabin vibrating as all of the vents were pointed at me blowing warm air at me full force. A soft low toned voice began talking, as I soon realized, to me.

"Shh, sweetspark. Calm down. You are safe. Sam says we are almost there. When we stop I will have Ratchet look you over and give you something for pain. I need you to calm down and be as quiet as you can, however. We need to make sure that we do not alert anyone or there might be trouble. Do you think you can do that for me?" I gave a quick jerked nod and a sobbed whimper as I focused on forcing myself into silence.

"What's her status Optimus?" Asked a voice with a slight European accent.

"I believe it to be improving. Slowly. She is no longer screaming, and has finally responded to me. She agreed to be as quiet as possible once we reach the Witwicky household. Do you have any pain relief on you that would work with an organic, Ratchet? Her pain and distress levels are still dangerously high."

"Yes, but with what we witnessed in that alleyway, I am not entirely certain she is still organic. I'll need to get proper scans, but I should have _something_ that could help her."

I grew desperately relieved when I felt Prime, at least, I was pretty sure that's who I was in, slowed to a stop. My whimpering grew a little louder as I felt the seat under me go from an almost lying position to almost sitting up.

"Calm down, sweetspark. It would be harder for Ratchet to get you out of my cab if you were lying down." I could tell he wanted to add more: most likely something along the lines that I would be just fine.

I was glad he didn't though. The pain racing through my veins and making movement impossible spoke volumes of how far from the truth that would be.

I was pretty sure I wouldn't die from this pain. I was sure that the Shard needed me too much to allow me to die at the beginning of my job as its vessel; I had a feeling that whatever it was doing to me physically was a way to officially make me the new vessel for it. Why hadn't it warned me about the pain? A heads up would have really been appreciated.

What had I traded this for again?

The door beside me opened, and I was vaguely aware of Prime explaining to me that this Ratchet was going to be lifting me out of the seat. My fear spiked. I had no doubt that it was going to hurt. I gave a whimpered protest as the medic opened my door. A huge hand hovered over my body before picking me up with surprising gentleness.

The metal hand surrounding me was strangely warm and almost comfortable. I let out another whimper as a particularly sharp pain radiated down my forearms. I heard a series of soft clicks and whirls in return from the bot holding me as the hand cradled me against what I guessed was their equivalent of a chest.

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**Ratchet's POV** (_Yes, there is more than one POV in this story. :D_)

The primitive scans Prime had done on the femme during the drive to the Witwicky residence worried me more than I really wanted to admit. Her vitals were everywhere. One minute her organic pump was racing and the next it was slowing. Something else was also beginning to pulse sporadically next to her organic pump that was certainly not organic in origin. Her pheromone levels spoke of severe pain and fear. Partway through everything worsened and the youngling began to leak life fluids. I was seriously considering having Prime pull over so I could take immediate action.

The only problem was, I was not truly sure what I could do. I was certain that this was directly connected to the Shard. I had no idea what it would want with a youngling. I did not believe that it meant to offline the femme. It would have done it already and nothing I could do would have been able to stop it.

Regardless, I was certainly going to at least try and find out what was wrong with her. The second we arrived I began transforming before waiting impatiently beside the red and blue semi-truck. The tinted windows further frustrated me.

::Ratchet, be careful.:: Prime needlessly commed me as he opened his door.

::I'm not going to hurt the youngling, Prime:: I replied as I gingerly picked her up.

Despite my care, the poor thing let out a whimper that I wasn't entirely sure was related to pain or to fear. Perhaps both? Regardless I tried my best to keep her calm. The last thing we needed was for to start screaming this close to humans, more specifically Samuel's creator units. I brought her close to my spark for a moment chirping and whirling at her the way one would to an upset sparkling. When I was confident that she had calmed enough in my care I pulled her away from me flattening my hand slightly so that I could get a proper series of scans on her.

I released a quiet, surprised, and slightly horrified gasp at what I saw. I was fairly certain that of all the colors the World Wide Web had informed us the human skin can be, pale grey was not one of them. The definite metallic sheen also added serious confusion. Had Mikaela not just been helped through Samuel's window by Optimus, I would have sought her help to confirm the abnormality. Her eyes though, barely open, showed bright silver organic optics. There was also the Cybertronian word for death etched in metal on her right forearm. Upon further inspection I found that there was one Cybertronian word etched into each of her limbs: for the right forearm- death, on the left forearm- comes, on the outer thigh of the right leg- for, on the outer thigh of the left leg- all.

_Death comes for all. _That reminded me of the morbid carvings that had been on the original Offline Decider before all that was left of it was the Shard. While the carvings in the AllSpark promised life, the Offline Decider was the exact opposite with its promises of destruction.

I felt an overwhelming sense of pity for the girl as I began further scans. It had claimed her, and she would know the death of many. Moreover, she would be known _as_ Death by many.

I no longer needed my scans to known what was happening to the girl. The Offline Decider was turning her into a vessel, still I ran them in case something else was the matter as well.

::Prime:: I commed, grabbing his attention momentarily from my semi-private corner of the yard. ::It has claimed a new vessel. I am going to give her something for the pain, but, if my scans are correct her transformation is complete. She's just dealing with the after effects now.::

I could feel Optimus's anger and confusion across the yard. ::But she's practically a Sparkling!::

::I know Optimus. However, I cannot deny it. Her eyes are silver, her skin is grey, and she has 'Death comes for all' imbedded in her skin. It has claimed her, and I cannot undo that.:: I said frustrated.

He sighed, ::I will not ask you too. We need to focus on getting the glasses. The sooner we have the AllSpark the better. This certainly complicates things.::

I couldn't help but agree. My attention was brought back to my patient as she whimpered again. Her eyes were more open now and just slightly less fogged over from pain.

I talked to her quietly, explaining that I was preparing a medicine that would (hopefully) help her, while adding an occasional click or whirl absentmindedly when she whimpered. With her medicine administered, all that was left to find was a comfortable place for her to rest. I looked up as an idea struck me.

::Ironhide, do you still have the sparkling hold from when Bumblebee was younger?::

He looked at me confused. ::Yes…::

Perfect.

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